Joyce Lien Kushner
Joyce's Bio
Joyce Lien Kushner is a Taiwanese-American dance artist, teacher, and maker. She is also a certified Progressing Ballet Technique® instructor. Throughout her years, Joyce has trained dancers of all ages and has performed and collaborated with artists all over California – Modern City Repertoire, Strong Pulse Dance, Epiphany Dance Theater, Surhabi Suraf, Sarah Bush Dance, Amy Lewis, Five Feet Dance, and Chris Black Dance. In 2015, Joyce founded TILTshift Dance in San Francisco. Now in San Diego, she continues to teach, make work, and holds open space for other dance artists to create and work. She was recently awarded an 18-month artist residency by NTC Foundation in ARTS DISTRICT Liberty Station to help further these endeavors. Joyce currently teaches at BalletCenter Studios, Lynch Dance Institute, The Dance Academy Del Mar, and Canyon Crest Academy. Joyce also proudly serves on the board of Disco Riot.
Artistic Philosophy
"Human relationships fascinate me and inform both the content of my creative work and the collaborative approach I take. Complex beings we are, perpetually navigating a myriad of emotions, beliefs, and desires, all of which shape how we relate to one another. I hold dance as a form of embodied storytelling, through which we can explore our individual and collective histories, identities, morals, passions, conflicts, and communions.Through dance, I believe we can ultimately find connections, illuminations, empathy, catharsis, and sometimes even solutions to our human quandaries."
Teaching Philosophy
"The practice of training and educating dancers continually evolves. Dance techniques and styles change, and today's choreographers require versatile dancers. As a lifelong student myself, I am always researching, learning, and adding to my toolbox, as I focus my practice on contemporary approaches. I am particularly fond of working with classically trained dancers, helping them find new movement pathways, ease in muscular effort, and added dimension in movement quality. How I teach reflects my concern for dancer longevity. I often incorporate functional anatomy and use somatic approaches in my classes. Thankfully, 'who can dance' has evolved. I believe that dance is for everyone and every BODY – if you can move, you can dance. My class is not only a place for training, it is a safe, inclusive space for exploration, investigation, play, and above all, acceptance."
Personal Story
"I am the daughter of hard working Taiwanese immigrants. I am a SoCal native who loves the beach. I am a wife, mother, ex-corporate manager, entrepreneur, and chocoholic. I am a dance artist, teacher, and maker. Oh yes, my journey has taken many detours...
Dancing professionally in Los Angeles during the 80s and 90s, few 'mature' female dance role models existed. Believing my time was up, I left dance in my late 20s and transitioned to a career in retail management and visual merchandising, which later led to branding and marketing. After marrying and having a son, I eventually 'burnt out' on corporate life. I left and started a Fair Trade organic chocolate business called Coco-Zen, building and running it for 7 years. However, dance is my first love, and it ultimately called me back at the ripe age of 46. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time, the area's rich and diverse dance community welcomed me. Free from the constraints I felt in my earlier dance years, my time in San Francisco allowed me to develop more deeply as an artist, mature as an educator, and more importantly, showed me the importance of community. Now back in my hometown of Del Mar/San Diego, I am eager and excited to be teaching, making work, engaging, and hopefully adding to the dance community here...so much has changed!"